Apostolic
&
Franciscan Youth/
Young Adult Commissions

The Rule of the SFO

National Secular Franciscan
All Commissions Conference
2004

WAYS TO LIVE THE FAMILY COMMISSION:

Be a good role model.

Watch a movie with your family.

Bless your house and car.

Teach a child how to pray.

Apologize to someone.

Remember, God loves you as a mother loves a child.

Start a tradition with your family.

Dwell not on the past - only on the future.

Visit those who are alone.

Hold hands while saying grace.

Call a grown child to say how much you love him/her.

Laugh and smile often.

Pray for your children's teachers.

Surprise your parents with a treat.

Buy extra food for community soup kitchen.

Write thank you notes to family members.

Ask each family member to share a compliment with one another.

Support Right to Life with newborn baby diapers and new/used garments.

Support Birth Right programs.

Create a gift shoebox for a homeless man/woman.

Pray to the Guardian Angels for protection of your family.

Adopt an elderly person in a nursing home.

Mail your contribution to charity.

Plan a weekend with your family.

Live your marriage as a covenant and commitment before God.

*Excerpted from 2002, 2003 Family Commission calendars with permission.

WAYS TO LIVE THE PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMISSION:

Read the newspaper or listen to the news on the radio or TV and learn about problems in the world where peace and justice is needed.

Volunteer to work in a soup kitchen.

Pray daily for peace, "The Peace Prayer."

Use your skills in another language to work with people in your community who do not speak English.

Participate in nonviolent demonstrations for peace or justice.

Mediate between two people or two sides of a conflict.

Help members of your family to get along with each other.

Write to someone with whom you have lost touch.

Write a letter or make a call to your congress-person about an issue you care about.

Believe that peace is possible!

Attend a talk or read a book to learn more about world hunger.

Talk to your children or grandchildren about a peace-filled future.

Travel to another country to learn about their culture.

Visit or write to someone in prison.

Assist someone who is having trouble receiving adequate health care.

Volunteer to deliver food to a shut-in with HIV/AIDS, etc.

Advocate for someone with mental illness.

Participate in a run or walk "for a cure" (for breast cancer, AIDS, etc.).

Donate time to a peace and justice group (like PAX Christi).

Attend a meeting or workshop on peace and justice.

Learn about where and under what conditions the clothes you are wearing are made.

Study or read about church teachings on peace and justice.

Get to know someone from a culture different from yours.

Help someone find affordable housing.

Choose not to buy war toys for the children you love.

WAYS TO LIVE THE WORK COMMISSION:

Do literacy tutoring to help person(s) get a job or qualify for different ones.

Format resumes on computer for more professional appearance for those without computer access or knowledge to do this.

Help people complete job applications.

Assist with resources to meet family needs of someone out of work - food, clothing, housing, utilities, getting unemployment compensation.

Help meet spiritual needs of the employed, under employed, unemployed.

Create/assist with support group for unemployed.

Volunteer at place where people are trained for jobs or in offices where people come to find employment.

Keep up on work related issues in the community. Write letters to editor reflecting Franciscan spirituality relative to the problems. Sign the letter with SFO after your name.

Hire unemployed person(s) to do odd jobs around home/business and pay justly.

Contact and assist local schools and/or parish(es) with "Career Days."

Print out information on careers from internet for people without computers.

Mentor a new high school or college graduate or newly hired worker.

Each diocese monitors legislation. Be informed about pending issues to address with local, state, and federal legislation.

Focus fraternity at least 1 time each year on spirituality of work, perhaps near St. Joseph's Feast, May 1st or Labor Day, the first Monday in September.

Wear your TAU to work.

Diffuse negative conversations, gossip, etc., at work.

Bring hope to the workplace.

See presence of Christ in others and let them see that in you.

Have a fraternity meeting on work where members can speak about their charitable volunteer work.

Use your fraternity bulletin to write quotes from Scripture or St. Francis on the dignity of work.

Make a "Task Chart" for your children and reward them after so many stars.

Build up the Kingdom of God in your own back yard by removing trash.

Teach a child how to sew or knit a useful item such as a potholder or a place mat.

Praise and thank those who do work for you.

Offer to work on fraternity committees.

WAYS TO LIVE THE ECOLOGY COMMISSION:

Ecologically....with respect for all creation:

When shopping, substitute one organically produced item every week for a conventionally produced product you usually buy, to support environmental stewardship and family farms. Look for "community supported agriculture" (CSA) in your area.

Park further away from your destination: you'll

use less gasoline, free spots for those who really need them, and get some additional exercise.

When replacing your lawnmower, buy one designed to mulch the clippings and act as fertilizer.

Spray your rose bushes with whole milk weekly to prevent black spot and mildew--research shows that it is very effective as well as cheap and non-toxic. Learn to select plants more suitable to your area that require few to no petro-chemical inputs.

Give surplus or expired drugs to your local pharmacy to destroy instead of flushing them; many drugs affect our lakes and streams and fish.

Don't thin your vegetable garden too much; surplus of crops can be donated to food pantries, etc.

Before you buy an item, discern whether you need it or is it just wanted.

Get to know a part of God's creation unknown to you. Spend time outside in nature - giving God praise for its variety, the way it all works together.

Reflect on the areas where you exploit nature. Repent of your sins.

Eat smaller portions or fast from eating a meal or two a week.

Reflect on the ways you and your family use water and how you can conserve it.

Compost the vegetation wastes from yard and kitchen.

Harvest rain that runs-off the roof.

Carpool errands with friends, family, Franciscans.

Walk, ride the bus or ride your bike to church, etc.

Purchase vehicles with good gas efficiency (e.g. hybrid fuel vehicles).

When possible, wherever you see trash, pick it up (mountain trail or city street)....it's cluttering up God's creation.

Read Catechism of the Catholic Church on being good stewards of creation.

Talk with friends and family about stewardship.

Do certain tasks manually to save fuel energy.

Turn up/off your A/C, turn down/off your furnace while observing healthful limits.

Join a group such as "ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY."

Support land conservation; promote the concept of permanent natural preservation.

Bring your own cups to Fraternity gatherings, etc.

Use paper more wisely at the office/home. (Double-sided copies; make note-pads out of used single-sided sheets).

WAYS TO LIVE THE FRANCISCAN YOUTH/YOUNG ADULT COMMISSION:

Encourage studying; help a young person in studying by having a day at the local library, science museum; share your knowledge.

Listen to what young people are saying when they talk to you.

Show mutual respect when meeting young people in restaurants, and your work area.

Reward them for a job well done, especially good grades.

Extend forgiveness, be compassionate, have empathy.

Be patient, cheerful, and optimistic with young people.

Have fun with them: bake a cake or cookies with them, walk barefoot in the park or beach, collect pretty shells or stones.

Create a photo album of family or friends. Give each page of the album a theme and have them decorate it with pictures and souvenirs.

Make a few "fun dates" on your calendar. Mark the choices of what they would like to do, and follow through.

Give a simple hug, and saying "I love you" will give a great deal back.

Be a friend to a young person. It is one of the greatest luxuries of life.

Have a "Youth Visit Day" to sick youth in hospitals, or rehab center, or recuperating at home.

Finger paint with children and hang up their work.

Help children make a "Fairy Garden": Get half-barrels or very large pots; take children to a garden shop-have them pick out 4 or 5 plants of their choice; research about them; help them plant these and decorate the pots with inexpensive ceramic items, i.e., little bugs, lady bugs, butterflies, etc.

Send them a letter or postcard. Contribute to their collection.

Praise more; criticize less.

Admit when you make a mistake.

Ask them to help you.

Be understanding when they have a difficult day.

Tackle new tasks together.

Teach them about charity and giving.

Tell them fun stories about your childhood.

Compliment children and youth often.

Make a present with them for grandparents; decorate a pot and place an herb plant in it for their kitchen.

Love them no matter what.

Thank you for your contributions:

National Family Commission

National Peace and Justice Commission

National Work Commission

National Ecology Commission

National Franciscan Youth/Young Adult Commission

* May be copied for fraternities.

Folder arrangement:

Mary and Anthony Mazotti, SFO